Homemade snickerdoodles are better!

Wally, my husband, LOVES cookies. I like them too but sometimes I feel there is not too much "to play with" in making cookies so I spend hours online trying to find recipes that have something different from others. For my first post about cookies, however, I have decided to go for a classic: snickerdoodles. A lesson that I've learnt pretty quickly when I moved to the US is that Americans looooove cinnamon and put a big amount of it whenever possilbe. I like cinnamon but I tend to find it annoying when there is too much of it. The nice thing of homemaking is that you can control the doses of each ingredient...that's why I like homemade snickerdoodles: I can put the right amount of cinnamon so that Wally still love his daily ration of cookies and I can enjoy them too. Here is my recipe*, adapted from Joy of Baking:

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Coating:

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, the salt, and the baking powder.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until smooth (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is soft and sticky, you can cover it and refrigerate it until it's firm enough to roll into balls (one to two hours will be enough).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) round balls.

Coating: In a large shallow bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on the prepared pan, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Then, using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick.

Bake the cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Can store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 - 14 days.

Makes about 6 dozens of cookies.

* I actually used half doses. I know that bakers always say never to upsize or downsize doses but sometimes I do downsize the recipe, above all when I am experimenting. 6 dozens of cookies seem too much to me.